Snacks constitute almost a quarter of a day’s calories in U.S. adults and account for about one-third of daily added sugar, a new study suggests.
Researchers analyzing data from surveys of over 20,000 people found that Americans averaged about 400 to 500 calories in snacks a day—often more than what they consumed at breakfast—that offered little nutritional value.
Though dietitians are very aware of Americans’ propensity to snack, “the magnitude of the impact isn’t realized until you actually look at it,” said senior study author Christopher Taylor, professor of medical dietetics in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The Ohio State University.
That’s the trick there isn’t it. No Uber eats to bring you a mcfrosty at 2pm because you crave it. Not when you’re a primate. But humans have that access and is bad. Primates also had little choice as food was not always there.
I’ve lived in both USA and Europe, and let me tell you that in Europe, I was snacking randomly on things like… fruit, snap peas, maybe a slice of cheese if the craving hit. Ice cream was harder to come by and eat I could buy as only 2 servings fit in my ice box. I’m back in the USA right now, laying in bed contemplating on getting dressed so I can drive .3 miles to my fave breakfast burrito place or order it on Uber… at least until I saw this post. Now I’ll just eat some overpriced fruit I picked up because I know better, but damn is it easy to get out of that habit when I can’t just walk 200m to the mercato and pay reasonable prices for healthy food.